Summary: Distributors of GNU/Linux that are hostages of Microsoft or part of its patent racket are looked upon and analysed based on the past week’s news

SUSE (SLES/SLED)

SOME self-appointed experts are saying that IBM might buy Novell* (which is for sale). The news suggests that this is possible, starting with this item from The VAR Guy:

When it comes to hardware and software, IBM and Novell have a longstanding SUSE Linux business relationship. So where are the two companies heading next together? Novell and IBM provided some clues during last week’s Novell BrainShare conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here are the details.

It is worth pointing out that Novell uses The VAR Guy to market itself. Novell and its allies also pay Gillen (IDC) to promote themselves (so does Microsoft). The following BrainShare videos [1, 2, 3, 4] were uploaded by Novell a few days ago and there is nothing particularly odd in any of them. The VAR Guy manages the panel fairly well, but it just looks like an echo chamber of Novell partners and guests. It looks almost like it’s scripted (to a degree).

Going back to IBM, Bob Sutor, the VP of standards, open source, and “Linux” (or whatever falls into this basket these days) is playing around with Geeko and adds a picture of a lizard (SUSE’s mascot, the chameleon) to his daily links. This may spur speculations that IBM wants Novell (at least for its UNIX, which needs guarding because of SCO). It is important to remember that IBM helped Novell acquire S.u.S.E.

Anyway, the panel discussion and the Geeko builder both relate to SUSE Studio, which is being promoted by IDG (also here and here).

Today, Novell’s SUSE Studio is a Web-based virtual appliance/ISO image creator using SUSE Linux. It has no parallels that we can find for building operating systems instances.

It is crucial to remember that Microsoft is taxing SUSE using some imaginary software patents Microsoft refuses to show, let alone name.

IBM is also partnering with Amazon Web Services and Novell, allowing participants to use the DB2 Express-C database and WebSphere sMash application-development toolset on Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud, but in this case they will be responsible for Amazon usage fees.

It should be pointed out that Amazon pays Microsoft for its Red Hat servers as though these were SLES servers. Amazon is no friend of GNU/Linux anymore [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. At Amazon, Linux is Ballnux. It’s taxed by Microsoft, probably because many executives from Microsoft took seats at Amazon. We had warned about this all along. IBM was never against such a tax by the way (it even approved the Microsoft/Novell deal just as it quietly approves software patents). Both Jaffe and Hovsepian, who engineered the Microsoft deal shortly after earning positions of power, came to Novell from IBM.

Novell has formally scheduled the upcoming Service Pack 1 for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for the end of the second quarter of the year. The service pack is currently available as a release candidate for partners and ISVs to test. No new features are being added at this time, but bugs and integration problems are being fixed.

SGI peddles cut-down Altix UV supers

[...]

The entry box already supports Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and the just-announced Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, which has all the kernel tweaks to allow it to support the Nehalem-EX processors.

Samsung

Much to our regret, Samsung continues to make Ballnux phones that contaminate Android as a free platform [1, 2] (some are just rebranded Samsung phones, at least in the UK [1, 2]). What does not add to Samsung’s credibility is that following fraud [1, 2, 3] the company takes the fraudster back (as its top man even).

SOUTH KOREAN BILLIONAIRE Lee Kun-hee, who was found guilty of tax evasion in 2008, has returned to head Samsung.

LG

Samsung’s neighbours at LG are also paying Microsoft for Linux while producing products that typically use Linux [1, 2, 3]. Android too is affected here.

As companies like HTC and Samsung continue to push Android forward with high-end device like the EVO 4G and Samsung Galaxy S, other handset makers are reacting with their own super phones.

Kyocera Communications, a provider of Kyocera- and Sanyo-branded wireless devices, has introduced Kyocera Zio M6000 Android smartphone, which it claims to blend a new elegant design with an ultra-intuitive user interface to unlock an array of content and applications in Android Market.

The criminal enterprise known as Microsoft finds itself embarrassingly exposed in the courtroom, for the IRS belatedly (decades too late) targets the company in an effort to tackle massive tax evasions

A look at some of last week's patent news, with imperative responses that criticise corporate exploitation of patents for protectionism (excluding and/or driving away the competition using legal threats)

Vista 10 to bring new ways for spies (and other crackers) to remotely access people's computers and remotely modify the binary files on them (via Windows Update, which for most people cannot be disabled)